Van v. Maryland

Marriage is defined in The Devils Dictionary as "a community consisting of a master, a mistress, and two slaves, making in all, two." Conceivably, it was the dawning of a realization that this definition of matrimony might accurately describe their relationship which precipitated Raymond and Bonnie Flanagans marital separation. This severance and the passing of five years without reconciliation were alleged by the respondent, Raymond, in his bill of complaint as grounds for a divorce a vinculo matrimonii from his spouse, the petitioner. Instead of recounting the rather complex factual and procedural history of this case, already adequately delineated in the opinions of the Court of Special Appeals in Flanagan v. Flanagan, 14 Md. App. 648, 288 A.2d 225 (1972) and Flanagan v. Flanagan, 17 Md. App. 90, 299 A.2d 520 (1973), we proceed directly to a consideration of the single issue to which we have limited the granting of certiorari. With commendable agreement, the parties have spelled out the question to be determined as follows: